Microsoft’s Ballmer sees Bing at No. 1 — eventually

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer came to Silicon Valley today to proclaim his company’s plans to become No. 1 in search — some day.

Ballmer said Microsoft has a ways to go to hunt down Google but he said the deal to handle search results for Yahoo gives the company a boost in its ability to build scale and volume, which help create value in its search engine Bing.

“The number one objective is to have Bing be the number one product and the best way to do that is to have two healthy companies pushing the results forward,” Ballmer said at the Search Marketing Expo in Santa Clara. “There is an advantage of having the power of two as opposed to the power of one.”Ballmer said Bing has enjoyed a lot of momentum and is succeeding in its ability to speed information to users that lead to actions. He said there is nothing Google’s doing that sets it so far apart from Microsoft and others, beyond its timing.

“The truth of the matter is the number one thing Google benefits from in search is they did it right first,” he said. “I think we have great people. They’re doing great things but we started it later. There’s a value to incumbency.”

With the news that European regulators are investigating antitrust complaints against Google, Ballmer was unabashed in helping bring some of the complaints to the EU’s attention. He said he is just passing on complaints of customers and marketers but it’s up to regulator to decide what’s legal or not.

“Initial complaints will come from competitors and we are competitors,” Ballmer said. “We’re not going to be silent in this game. We’re expressing issues and frustrations that we see.”

Ballmer sidestepped rumors that Microsoft was working with Apple to be the default search provider on the iPhone browser saying Microsoft is most focused on improving its Bing app for the iPhone, which shot into the top five of free apps after its launch. He said mobile search will continue to grow with the proliferation of smart phones.

He also declined to comment on whether Microsoft would be interested in buying partners Twitter or Facebook, saying they both have value in being independent.